BboroAg said:

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You guys are probably right….but they might find commonality in their dislike for Israel (almost seems biblical)

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Turkey's dislike for Israel is more recent and related to their role of caliphate under the last Sultans. But their dislike and rivalry with Iran goes back to the split after Ali's death over the secession of the caliphate in the 7th-8th Cs.

Turkey sees itself (and was under the Ottomans) the true [and Sunni] Caliphate; and Iran sees itself as that claimant, in the name of the only `true' branch -- the Shi'ia.

Hatred of Israel is unlikely to unite them. Its not even that visceral compared to their rivalry.

However, that said, if anyone could find a way to stupidly unite the two by being way too posturing, its the neocons of the present admin.

France is reopening their embassy in Damascus after being closed since 2012. They raised the flag today. Germany sent a delegation in hopes of reopening diplomatic relations.

Note that the European nations (including those two central powers) stopped processing Syrian asylum requests as soon as Assad fell. They are very motivated to stop taking refugees, and send more back. Both have governments buckling under the financial duress their immigration and war policies have wrought.

🇸🇾 Western journalists tells the moderate rebels to take off the ISIS patch.

🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/zU0lv7spxJ

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) December 16, 2024

#BREAKING Turkey is preparing for an imminent operation against the Kurdish forces in Kobani, northern Syria, according to Wall Street Journal

— Guy Elster (@guyelster) December 17, 2024

Syrian rebels meanwhile fly drones over the Russian air base in Hmeimim — pretty amazing upclose look. https://t.co/VnKByxSz68 pic.twitter.com/Vuuw8NsmCi

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) December 12, 2024

That last one above is from this piece, which regards a mystery I am still curious about, Assad's departure, and as well Russian negotiations with HTS/al qaeda regarding that airbase (which looks to have at least a squadron of Flankers still per that tweet), plus potential that they will expand their presence in Libya possibly.

Turkey is going to make an area that's already a mess and turn it into a total disaster.

Til that the leader of hts, al-julani, went to Iraq to fight the Americans in the early 2000s. He also was captured and spent time in abu ghraib.

And to make matters more clear, the new leaders in Syria are frequently talking about bringing the refugees back to Syria. This is a win for Turkey and Europe.

DanielDay said:

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Stop it. Decades of authoritarian rule in the ME has led to the extremists. We should support, directly or indirectly, keeping populations under bondage? Our most noble export is democracy. If the next rulers also create problems, fine they're up next to be deposed.

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Democracy isn't a product though any more than individual freedom or property rights are. These are values a people either champion and want/demand their government respect or not. Muslims…do not. Throwing American money at countries, or weapons, doesn't change that.

AtticusMatlock said:

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And to make matters more clear, the new leaders in Syria are frequently talking about bringing the refugees back to Syria. This is a win for Turkey and Europe.

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We've already had many Syrians begin immigrating back to Syria literally the day after HTS took the capital. Win-win for everyone.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05p9g2nqmeo

New de facto Syrian leader no longer wants to be called al-Jolani, wants to be called his birth name - Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Says Syria is tired of war and wants peace with the West. Says Syria will not be a threat to anyone.

AtticusMatlock said:

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05p9g2nqmeo

New de facto Syrian leader no longer wants to be called al-Jolani, wants to be called his birth name - Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Says Syria is tired of war and wants peace with the West. Says Syria will not be a threat to anyone.

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I am pulling for him.

AtticusMatlock said:

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05p9g2nqmeo

New de facto Syrian leader no longer wants to be called al-Jolani, wants to be called his birth name - Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Says Syria is tired of war and wants peace with the West. Says Syria will not be a threat to anyone.

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Are enough people going to listen to him? Or did he just put a large target on his back?

Well Zelhan says that Syria is all the crappy leftovers from the WW1/2 carve up's. Guess it's not much worth to many.

He should have a large target on his back from the US for what he did against us in Iraq and Libya. Right now he is playing the part of a wolf in sheep's clothing by being a centralist. Maybe we can buy him but for the past decade he has been rather violent

P.U.T.U said:

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He should have a large target on his back from the US for what he did against us in Iraq and Libya. Right now he is playing the part of a wolf in sheep's clothing by being a centralist. Maybe we can buy him but for the past decade he has been rather violent

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So we are in somewhat trust but very stringent verification with this guy?

Truth be told, I'm a little more worried about Erdogan and Turkey.

HOLY COW!🤯The Pentagon just admitted they had no idea how many American soldiers were in Syria.

"We have been briefing you that there are approximately 900 US troops in Syria."

"I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria."

INSANITY! pic.twitter.com/oWh8Grt2YO

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 19, 2024

45-70Ag said:

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HOLY COW!🤯The Pentagon just admitted they had no idea how many American soldiers were in Syria.

"We have been briefing you that there are approximately 900 US troops in Syria."

"I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria."

INSANITY! pic.twitter.com/oWh8Grt2YO

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 19, 2024

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This reminds of the officials who bragged, in public, about how they lied about troop counts to Trump to make him think we had exited more than we really had.

The only reason to be concerned about Turkey is if get too directly in their way. They do not have designs against us and it would be stupid to make them an enemy over fallen Syria. They are probably one of the few powers in the region that can keep it from becoming too much under Shi'ia Iran influence.

Cant wait to post an Assad miss me yet meme in a couple of years.

samurai_science said:

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Cant wait to post an Assad miss me yet meme in a couple of years.

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Unfortunately give something like a minimum of 60/40 odds in favor of your prediction being necessary and apt.

Not much was learned from the mistakes of the first decade.

Syria’s new government declares Christmas a public holiday.

Government offices will be closed on December 25th and 26th. pic.twitter.com/s1oiEOTXDG

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 24, 2024

The 'good guys?'

#leaked
Al-Jolani’s HTS has granted Syrian citizenship to 5,700 Turkey-backed jihadists in the #Afrin area, of whom 1,500 are ISIS members, 2,200 are al-Qaeda, and 980 are Palestinians (who are in Afrin in the Kurdish house).
The rest are from various jihadist groups of… pic.twitter.com/IiHBxEetKu

— Botin Kurdistani (@kurdistannews24) December 30, 2024

Another high ranking terrorist of Al-Qaeda is appointed as one of the key military officials of the new #Syria. Merhaf Abu Qasra, one of commanders of the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, Al-nusra Front & #HTS is now the new defence minister of #Syria. He personally has beheaded many… pic.twitter.com/m3hErEVJo2

— Babak Taghvaee - The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) December 31, 2024

(Edited to remove video of her murder).

Should have backed Assad, been saying it for 5 years

AtticusMatlock said:

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05p9g2nqmeo

New de facto Syrian leader no longer wants to be called al-Jolani, wants to be called his birth name - Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Says Syria is tired of war and wants peace with the West. Says Syria will not be a threat to anyone.

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This guy's after some of that Ukraine money. Does Hunter have any more gallery showings before Jan 20?

Reports Iran is already forming a resistance group within Syria to stoke sectarian violence and prevent the new government from effectively governing. Look for a lot of false flag attacks against minority groups, especially Christians. This will be accompanied by an information warfare campaign.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/30/maysaa-sabrine-becomes-first-syrian-woman-to-lead-central-bank

The new Syrian finance minister is a woman.

Notice we just had the anniversary (5th) of Soleimani's death/assassination.

Iran marks General Soleimani's 5th martyrdom anniversary - Mehr News Agency https://t.co/zOAHc2o3wh

— Stealth Medical (@StealthMedical1) January 2, 2025

This is a big deal in the Iranian terrorist world of sicko's (including the Syrian leadership ranks, such as they are).

Update: US military, on autopilot without a commander in chief, builds a new base up north to I guess help the Kurds vs. Turks.

Quote:

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Several videos and images have emerged on social media claiming to show U.S. troops and equipment heading toward Kobani, reportedly to build a new international coalition base. The U.S. has a presence of about 2,000 troops in Syria, ostensibly deployed to continue the ongoing fight against ISIS. That fight apparently came to the U.S. on Wednesday, when a man claiming ISIS affiliation carried out a deadly attack in New Orleans.

U.S. forces "brought in a convoy of 50 trucks carrying cement blocks to SDF-controlled areas in north-eastern Syria," the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) wrote Thursday morning. "SOHR activists have reported seeing the convoy on Al-Hasakah-Al-Raqqah highway, while it was heading to Ain Al-Arab area (Kobani) in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. The convoy was accompanied by a military vehicle of SDF. According to SOHR sources, this comes as a part of US forces' efforts to boost their bases and establish a new military base in Ain Al-Arab in light of the growing security and military tension in that region."

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Quote:

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U.S. forces "brought in a convoy of 50 trucks carrying cement blocks to SDF-controlled areas in north-eastern Syria," the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) wrote Thursday morning. "SOHR activists have reported seeing the convoy on Al-Hasakah-Al-Raqqah highway, while it was heading to Ain Al-Arab area (Kobani) in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. The convoy was accompanied by a military vehicle of SDF. According to SOHR sources, this comes as a part of US forces' efforts to boost their bases and establish a new military base in Ain Al-Arab in light of the growing security and military tension in that region."

The international coalition forces "brought a convoy of logistic reinforcements including premade chambers, surveillance cameras, cement blocks, fuel tanks and digging machinery towards Kobani," SOHR added. "…the digging and drilling will start tomorrow and more military reinforcements such as soldiers, weapons, armored vehicles, radars, and anti-aircraft weapons will be brought."

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Quote:

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If the U.S. is indeed establishing a new base in Kobani, it comes as the Biden administration is winding down. If the past is prologue, this may be a short-lived move after Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. As we reported at the time, Trump shocked SDF by announcing a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Kobani in 2019. Trump had already stated his intention to eventually pull out all U.S. forces from Syria in December 2018. Despite Trump's wishes, the U.S. kept troops in Syria throughout his first administration.

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More at the link. Forever war.

We've gone from reports of 900 troops to 2000 since this deal started. Do we really know how many troops we have there?

🇸🇾🇩🇪 LMAO: Syria censors the foto of Baerbock!

So, nobody shakes Baerbock’s hand and now she is fully censored.

That’s how feminist foreign policy is done! Baerbock is doing great!

HAHAHAHAHA pic.twitter.com/bZ81VANXN0

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) January 5, 2025

During her visit to Syria's Damascus, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock did not receive a handshake from de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa: "Even when I arrived, it was clear to me that there would obviously be no ordinary handshakes here." pic.twitter.com/42a2lRL5AY

— DW News (@dwnews) January 4, 2025

LOL, she sort of deserves this treatment, but it is funny to see the 'moderate' new Syrian government not even willing to publish a photo with a non-covered female. I think the Euro's main goal is to come back home with a plan to say 'we have negotiated to now repatriate Syrian refugees.'

The Israeli's declassified this nice little September operation in Syria they conducted:

DECLASSIFIED: In September 2024, before the fall of the Assad Regime, our soldiers conducted an undercover operation to dismantle an Iranian-funded underground precision missile production site in Syria.

Watch exclusive footage from this historic moment. pic.twitter.com/s0bTDNwx77

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 2, 2025

Quote:

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The Israelis also revealed a surprising level of tactics, techniques, and procedures that were either a blunder or calculated to send a message.

Quote:

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The first of the CH-53 "Yasur" helicopters landed close to the entrance, dropping off several Shaldag commandos, while another two choppers simultaneously landed at another position in the area overlooking the science center. The fourth helicopter waited behind for several minutes before landing where the first one had, dropping off additional troops.
The four helicopters then flew away to other positions in the area, where they landed and waited for over two hours for the 100 commandos to carry out their mission.
The 20 Unit 669 members, still on board the choppers, were to spring into action if any of the commandos were wounded. The plan was to treat any wounded soldiers, but not to leave until the end of the mission. Therefore, Unit 669 brought along additional medical equipment to act as a makeshift hospital in the event of an injury.
At the facility, a first team of commandos began to secure the area while a second team advanced toward the entrance, killing two guards. Another team set up on a nearby hill, from which they flew a small drone to observe the raid and eliminate anyone approaching the facility.
...
One of the central challenges of the mission was getting through the heavy duty doors at the entrance to the underground site. According to officers who participated in the planning and the mission itself, this was no easy task.
At the mission's 50-minute mark, the first team of commandos managed to break through one of the entrances the one used for logistics and to reach the offices. The soldiers entered the site and reached the two production entrances the horseshoe opening them using forklifts that were inside the facility. The IDF had known in advance that the facility had such equipment, and had sent some of the commandos participating in the raid to get forklift certification.
At the same time, another team of commandos carrying explosives arrived at the entrances. The troops had brought a quad bike with them in one of the choppers to enable them to quickly move to and through the facility to plant the explosives.
Some 50 commandos then moved along the facility's production line, attaching bombs to all of the equipment, and especially the three planetary mixers. The other 50 waited outside and continued to keep the area clear by scanning the area and firing at threats.
At the same time, fighter jets continued to pound the surrounding region to prevent dozens of people identified on the ground apparently Syrian soldiers from approaching. In all, 49 munitions were used by IAF aircraft during the raid.

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More at the link. Good for them.

They need to quit publishing their tactics IMO.

Quote:

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an Iranian-funded underground precision missile production site in Syria.

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Wonder what this based on? That would suggest it was set up by an anti-Assad faction. Didn't many Sunni refugees from the Iraqi political order flee to Syria because of Iranian influence expanding in Baghdad?

I dunno. I can't keep it straight, I thought that was an area Assad's guys still controlled back in September. Then again, maybe so, as the Al Qaeda guys kicked out the Iranians when Assad fell so maybe Assad was working with/taking Iranian money to build missiles there to give to Hezbollah etc.

It would all be funny if it weren't so sad.

⚡️🇩🇪Even German news is mocking Analena Bareback's cringeworthy visit to Al-Qaeda's capital: pic.twitter.com/c75r4brZFh

— SIMPLICIUS Ѱ (@simpatico771) January 5, 2025

We are undoubtedly arming and sending money to multiple groups who are shooting at each other in Syria right now, in addition to the Taliban and Iran. Insanity.

ETA: I follow this stuff loosely but "Timber Sycamore" isn't even something I've ever heard of. Makes sense tho. And Trump is right.

Well, yeah. Trump exposed Obama for being the founder of Isis. pic.twitter.com/lQ58N4ze2S

— Steve Holland (@ROCKCRAWLN) January 5, 2025

I'm not certain Obama ordered it or the CIA told Obama this is what he "ordered".